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Critical Pedagogy


Shahrzad Mojab

phone: (416) 978-0829
email: SHAHRZAD.MOJAB@UTORONTO.CA  
email: shahrzad.mojab@utoronto.ca

Department: Leadership, Higher and Adult Education



Academic History

Professor Mojab earned her B.A. in English Language in Iran (1977), M.A. in two areas of Comparative Education and Administration, Higher and Continuing Education (1979), and Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies and Women’s Studies (1991) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She spent four years (1979-1983) in post-revolutionary Iran, where she became active in the women’s movement and the social movements of Kurdistan. Before joining the University of Toronto in 1996, Shahrzad taught and worked at University of Windsor, Ryerson University, and Concordia University Montreal).

Professor Mojab has served as the Interim Principal of New College, and Director of Women and Gender Studies Institute, at the University of Toronto. She is the past-President of the Canadian Association for the Studies of Adult Education. In 2003, she Distinguished Visitor, University of Alberta; in 2006 she was named Noted Scholar in the Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia and in 2012 was Visiting Scholar at the Faculty of Education of Boğaziçi University in Turkey.


Research Overview

Professor Mojab’s areas of research and teaching are: educational policy studies; gender, state, diaspora and transnationality; women, war, militarization and violence; women, war and learning; feminism, anti-racism, colonialism and imperialism; Marxist-feminism and learning; adult education in comparative and global perspectives. Her approach to the study of race, gender, class, nationality, and transnationality, is informed by feminist, dialectical, and historical materialism. She is critical of theoretical frameworks which treat race, gender, and class atomistically and reduce them to the domains of discourse, text, language or identity. She critiques monopolies of knowledge and power in education, and advocates dialogical and inclusive pedagogical practices.

Professor Mojab is internationally known for her work on the impact of war, displacement and violence on women’s learning and education. Her extensive empirical research in diasporic communities in Canada and Europe and the conflict zones of the Middle East has deepened our understanding of gender relations, patriarchy, culture and capitalism. A unique feature of her work is making knowledge accessible to public through the use of arts such as story-telling, dance, drama, visual art and film.

Professor Mojab has conducted Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada-funded research on war, diaspora, and learning; women political prisoners in the Middle East; war and transnational women's organizations; civic education curriculum as experienced by immigrant youth from war zones; and youth, society and (in)security.



Teaching Overview

Professor Mojab has taught the following courses at OISE/UT:

Doctoral Level

Adult Education Approaches to State, Equity, and Democracy
Historical Materialism in Adult Education: Consciousness, Ideology and Praxis
Political Economy of Adult Education in Global Perspectives
Marxism and Adult Education
Doctoral Thesis Seminar
Adult Education and Public Policy

Masters Level

Introduction to Adult Education
Comparative and International Perspectives in Adult Education
Lifelong Learning and Social Change
Power and Difference in the Workplace
Comprehensive Seminar in Adult Education
Women, War, and Learning
Women and Revolution in the Middle East





Professional Activities

Former Director, Women and Gender Studies Institute, University of Toronto (2003-2008)

Past-President, Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education

Professor Mojab has served on editorial and advisory boards of several reputable journals, including Adult Education Quarterly, Feminist Theory Journal, Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, International Journal of Lifelong Education, The Journal of Critical Education Policy Studies, Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, Resources for Feminist Research, and the Journal of International Kurdish Studies.

Representative Publications

Books

Carpenter, Sara and S. Mojab (2011) (eds.) Educating from Marx: Race, Gender, and Learning, New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

Women, War, Violence and Learning (2010) (ed.). London: Routeldge (2012 paper edition).

Mojab, S. and N. Abdo (2004) (eds.) Violence in the Name of Honour: Theoretical and Political Challenges.  Istanbul: Bilgi University Press, 253 pages.

Women of a Non-State Nation: The Kurds (2001) (ed.) Costa Mesa, California: MAZDA Publishers.

Bannerji, H. and S. Mojab, and J. Whitehead (2001) (eds.) Of Property and Propriety: The Role of Gender and Class in Imperialism and Nationalism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Research Grants and Contracts

• Society and Security, SSHRC Letter of Intent Award.
• Society and Security, OISE/UT Research Development Grant.
• Words, Movements, Colour: Remembering and Learning Through Narrative and Visual Art. Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council.
• Children of War: Citizenship Education and the Practice of Democratic Principles, SSHRC, Standard Research Grant.
• Children of War: Citizenship Education and the Practice of Democratic Principles, SSHRC Institutional Grant.
• Role of Women’s Organizations in Post-war Reconstruction: Diaspora-homeland Relations in the Kurdish ‘Safe Haven,’ 1991-2003, SSHRC, Standard Research Grant.
• Education Research for Conflict Prevention, Human Security and Peace-building: Understanding and Responding to Gendered Dimensions, Connaught International Symposia/colloquia, University of Toronto.
• War, Diaspora and Learning: Kurdish Women in Canada, Britain, and Sweden. SSHRC Standard Grant.
• Violence, Rights, and Law: Informal Learning Experiences of Immigrant Women, New Approaches to Lifelong Learning (NALL).



Honours and Awards

2010 Royal Society of Canada Award in Gender Studies
2009 Ian Martin Award for Social Justice for the Best Paper,
SCUTREA, University of Cambridge, UK.
2008 Distinguished Contribution to Graduate Teaching Award,
OISE/University of Toronto
Dean’s Excellence Award, Faculty of Arts and Science,
University of Toronto (2008, 2007 and 2003-2005)
2006 Noted Scholar, Faculty of Education, University of British
Columbia
2006 SAC Certificate, Equity Commission of the Students
Administrative Council, University of Toronto
2003 First prize winner in the Women’s WORLD writing contest,
‘Women’s Voices in War Zones.’
2003 EFF Distinguished Visitor, University of Alberta, Edmonton,
Canada
1986 Winner of the 1986 Women in International Development Student
Paper Competition, University of Illinois, U.S.A.



Other Information

Selected Refereed Articles & Book Chapters

“The politics of culture, racism, and nationalism in honour killing,” The Canadian
Criminal Law Review, summer, (2012) No. 16: 115-134.

Mojab, S and S. Carpenter, ALearning by dispossession: Democracy promotion and civic engagement in Iraq and United States,” International Journal of Lifelong Learning, (2011) 30 (4):549-563.

“Violence and Learning,” with Bethany J. Osborne in The International Handbook of Learning. New York: Rutledge (2011):265-274.

“Adult education and the “matter” of consciousness in Marxist-Feminism.” With Sara Carpenter, in Peter Jones (ed.), Marxism and Education: Renewing the Dialogue, Pedagogy, and Culture. New York: Palgrave MacMillan (2011): 117-140.

“Imperialism, ‘Post-war Reconstruction’ and Kurdish Women’s NGOs,” Nadje Al-Ali and Nicola Pratt (eds.) Women and War in the Middle East: Transnational Perspectives. London, UK: Zed Books Publishers (2009): 99-128.

“Turning work and lifelong learning inside out: A Marxist-Feminist attempt,” in Linda Cooper and Shirley Walters (eds.) Learning/Work: Turning Work and Lifelong Learning Inside Out. Cape Town, South Africa: Human Sciences Research Council (2009): 4-15.




Adult Education Anti-Racism Community Development & Social Movement Learning Comparative, Development, International and Global Education
  • Bradley Rowe
  • Christine Connelly
  • Garfield Gini-Newman
  • Jamie Magnusson
  • Jennifer Sumner
  • Shahrzad Mojab
  • Bapujee Biswabandan
  • Diane Dekker
  • Kathy Bickmore
  • Mary Drinkwater
  • Rob Simon
  • Ruben Gaztambide-Fernandez
  • Tara Goldstein
  • Ann Lopez
  • Clare Brett
  • Lance McCready
  • Larry Bencze
  • Yiola Cleovoulou
  • Equity, Diversity & Social Justice Feminist Studies Arts & Media Citizenship Education, Social Studies & History Cultural Studies Policy Students (including Student Experience, Student Engagement & Students At Risk) Workplace & Organizational Learning Democracy in Education and Schooling Humanities Studies in Education (including History & Philosophy) Lifelong & Transformative Learning
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